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ESSENTIAL DESTINATIONS
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MONTH: November/December 2007
Washoe chimpanzee
Washoe, 42, died on October 30, 2007 at the Chimpanzee and Human Communications Institute, on the Central Washington University campus in Ellensburg, Washington. Captured in Africa as a baby, Washoe was raised by Allen and Beatrix Gardner of the University of Nevada at Reno, 1966-1970. Beginning in 1967 they taught her American Sign Language. Graduate student Roger Fouts and his wife Deborah eventually took over and continued the project, first in Oklahoma, then at Central Washington University after 1980. Though Washoe's linguistic ability was disputed, she is generally recognized as the first chimp to learn human linguistic skills, developing a vocabuary of about 250 words. She went on to teach American Sign Language to three other chimpanzees--Tatu, 31, Loulis, 29, and Dar, 31, who all still live at the Chimpanzee and Human Communications Institute.